The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1887-01-06
ost, $3.50 per acre, or sll1 for sixtvfve

~'e' NeAs year my manure 900 pounds
to the acre) cost 1896, but my crop in
creased to twenty-seven bales from eigh,
on unLianured land. These extra bales
gave me $3.50, or net profit on manure O.
$5l6. The next year used 1000 pounds
per acre, at cost of &7.25 per acre, or 447I
for total But my crop went from eigh,
to forty'sev bales, giving increased in
come of 81 $50, or net over cost of manure
of about 1900. This year used 4,OoC
pounds to the acre, costing 1l4. so. or S942
for total manure But my crop 10 At least
eighty bales with this manure where 1t
was eight without. This increase OF
seventy-two bales is worth $500. De.
duct cost OF manure, $3.50, and we have
$2,65O as the profit on the use of manure. ~
"And then the land is 80 much richer ? ~
"Certainly. It is worth 500 an acre
where it was formely worth $5. You
must credit the manure with this"
AVERAGE OF THREE BALES TO THE ACRE.
Where Will You stop ia ti;e pragrrs-
sion ?"
81 don't know. l shall double my
manure next year, putting 5000 pounds
to the acre. l believe will get $50 bales
from sixty-6ve acres. hope to push it
up to three bales an acre. / have a few
acres on which put 10000 pounds Of
compost as an experiment, and every acre
of it will bring me three bales next year"
"Mr. Warthen raised FIVE bales to the
acre ?''
eyes, but left his land poorer. He
pushed it, stimulated it, and took the very
heart out of it. After taking off my enor-
nous crop leave my land richer than
before. | cultivate my sixty-fve acres
with two plows, and l will make $50
bales with these two plows on 81 xty-hve
acres. That will be glory enough for
me, and will be a revelation to the world.
l believe will get ninety bales this year
with two plows. / have already picked
thirty bales, and the best judges say that
hardly one-third is yet picked. This is
an astounding result, and simply shows
what intensive farming will do"
THE FORMULA FOR THE COMPOST
"How do you make this compost ?"
" Here is my formula: Take thirty
bushels of well-rotted stable manure, or
wellrotted organic matter, as leaves,
muck, ETC., and scatter it about three
inches thick upon piece Of ground so sit
uated that water will not stand on it, but
shed off in every direction. The thirty
bushels will weigh about 900 pounds
take 200 pounds of good acid phosphate,
which cost me $22.5O per ton delivered,
making the 200 pounds cost 1926, and
100 pounds of kainit, which cost me by
the ton $l4 delivered, or 20 cents for 100
pounds, and mix the acid phosphate and
the kainit thoroughly, then scatter evenly
on the manure. Next take thirty bushels
of green cotton seed and distribute evenly
over the pile and wet thoroughly-they
will weigh 900 pounds; take again
200 pounds of acid phosphate and 700
pounds of kainit; mix and spread over
the seed; begin on the manure and keep
on in this way, building up you heap,
layer by layer, until you get it as high as
convenient, then cover with six inches of
rich earth from fence corners, and leave
at least six weeks, when ready to haul to
the field, but with spade or pickaxe
square down, and mix as thoroughly as
possible. Now we have thirty bushels of
manure weighing 900 pounds, and 800
pounds chemicals in the first layer, and
thirty bushels cotton seed, weighing 900
pounds, and 800 pounds of chemicals in
the second layer, and these two layers
combine for the perfect compost. You
perceive that the weight is 2,4OO pounds,
value at cost is
80 bushels cotton seed. 121S cents. rs
400 pounds acid phosphate. so
300 pounds of kainit. ....................... 40
Stable manure, nominal. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..
Total. ~ %
Or, for 2,40O pounds q total value of
1866. This manure makes practically
perfect manure for cotton, and splendid
application for corn"
"This restores to the soil everything
the cotton took from it p
"Except silica, which is in the soil in
inexhaustible quantities, so that when you
put in larger quantity of these than the
cotton took out, your soil is evidently
richer"
"You do not believe in commercial
fertilizers ?"
ain a certain respect. There are many
fertilizers that are made with view to
show results which really parch and i'm.
poverish the land, besides taking all the
farmers cash. do not believe in them.
But the chemicals that are prepared for
composing are very reliable, and we
could not do without them. The secret
of success is buying these chemicals ju-
diciously and composing with leaves,
humus, cotton seed, etc. No farmer can
succeed permanently without composing.
The greatest waste in the South is with
stable manure. Many farmers never
think of saving it. In Ohio the compost
raised on one fifty-five acre farm from ten
head of horses and thirty head of cattle
in one year was estimated by the State
chemist at $2,650, and scattered 10000
pounds to the acre made . net profit of
$500 an acre.
"Another thing that our farmers do
not appreciate is cotton seed. That comes
nearer to being q perfect fertilizer than
anv one thing in the world, and yet over
100. 900 bushels were sold at my depot
bat tor trife and hauled away"
"You do not believe in cotton-seed
mills then?"
ayes do. Think the seed is Just as
good fertilizer after the oil is extracted
AZ before. The trouble is when it is sent
to the oil-mill it never comes back. Once
made into ootton-meal it is sent to Eng
land for stock food, and the Georgia farm
is robbed of it.
~You see, the English or Northern
farmer can afford to pay more for it than
we can because he feeds it to his stock,
and then saves the droppings of his stock.
In this way be fattens his cattle with it,